Four Battle Personalities

In everyday life we each have
assorted personality traits and preferences, but when we are
stressed, our
values and personality factors seem to switch to survival mode and we will act
'out of character' -- or perhaps somewhere closer to our truer selves as our
everyday masks are stripped away.

Battle can invoke extreme
forms of stress as we literally fight for our lives, taking the lives of others
in scenarios far removed from everyday life.

This article offers a simple
model of the battlefield personality, based on two primary dimensions: Cognition
and Arousal.

The Battle Personality

Arousal

Hot

Cognition

Feel

Berserker

Power-
house

Ice
Warrior

Mechanic

Think

Cold

Think-Feel (cognition)

When faced with stress, people
often retreat in one of two directions.

Feeling

The first possible direction
is towards an emotional state and away from thinking. This happens naturally as
the brain chemistry of
emotional arousal in the mid-brain suppresses cortical
thought.

The natural emotional response
to a threat is
fight-or-flight. In battle, flight is difficult and is often
trained out of soldiers and so they enter a primitive fighting state in which
they are driven by aggressive emotions.

Thinking

When faced with stress, other
people respond by grabbing control, and the one thing they can control is
themselves. They hence become very rational and deliberate, thinking hard about
everything they do.

Hot-Cold (action)

Beyond thinking or feeling,
people on the battlefield may be highly aroused or may be calmer in their
approach.

Hot

In the 'hot' state a person is
suffused with adrenaline which gives them enormous energy. They fight with force
and speed. Tackling the hot fighter, you are more likely to be overwhelmed by
the sheer number and power of blows.

Cold

In this cooler state, the
fighter is more economic in action, making every movement count. Tackling the
cold fighter, you are more likely to be caught out as they slip through a hole
in your defense.

The four types

So here are the descriptions of the four
personality types, based on the dimensional division above.

Feel-Hot - Berserker

In some ways the Berserker is
the simplest of battlefield personalities, but this does not make them an easy
target. The classic Berserker scenario is of them standing alone in a sea of
bodies as they rapidly overcome any opponent who comes near.

The Berserker is driven by a
high-energy rage that appears something like a massive temper tantrum. They lose
all self-control as they turn into a whirling killing machine. Their anger and
arousal gives them great power and speed. Feeling no pain, they continue to be
highly dangerous even when wounded.

Fighting the Berserker is very
difficult as their sheer speed and power means you may never get a blow in. The
best approach against a Berserker is often patience. Nobody can sustain that
level of energy for ever and eventually they will slow down, at which time you
can step in for the kill.

Think-Hot -The Powerhouse

Whilst the Mechanic uses lithe
economy, the Powerhouse is more of a bull. They largely succeed through the
energy they put into both thinking and fighting.

The Powerhouse is a strange
combination of thought and apparent rage. The way they do this is to use the
body's natural ability to generate adrenaline under stress but then grab
cognitive control from the emotions, sublimating suppressed rage into even more
energy in delivery. The Powerhouse thus retains rational control whilst being
able to direct enormous energy to selected targets.

Having a larger body is
advantageous to a Powerhouse and, when fully charged, they can kill with a
single blow, even cleaving their opponent on two.

Fighting against a Powerhouse
thus makes avoiding their blows of paramount importance. As they are also crafty
thinkers they are difficult to deceive and simply slipping around an attack
may lead you into a careful trap. If you cannot match their power, the best
attack can be thoughtful speed, though you should never underestimate their
ability here either.

Feel-Cold - Ice Warrior

The Ice Warrior is suffused
with emotion which they channel into a deep, cold hatred of their enemy. They
are sly and deceptive in battle and may be cruel in their attacks, often
deliberately wounding an opponent to prolong their suffering. This is perhaps in
endless revenge for a persistent past hurt that still drives them. It is said
that revenge is a meal best served cold, and the Ice Warrior may well be driven
by such motives. They enjoy
killing more than other battle personalities but are never fully satisfied by it
and so seek more.

Fighting the Ice Warrior can
thus be a dangerous and painful experience. Their greatest weakness is their
prolonging of the fight during which you may find a way through.

Think-Cold - The Mechanic

The 'mechanic' is a highly
skilled soldier for whom fighting is a fine art. Each battle, each blow is an
interesting problem to be quickly thought through logically and executed with fine
skill. Each opponent is to be sized up, weaknesses identified and then
efficiently dispatched.

Fighters whose bodies lack the
strength to be a Powerhouse but whose minds can remain steady under fire may
well become mechanics.

In some ways the mechanic is
the most terrifying and inhuman opponent as they treat you as little more than
another specimen. In fighting the Mechanic you need a good defense. Their
greatest weakness can be an arrogance and belief in their own ability and an
effective attack may stem from random action that leaves them wondering and
unable to predict your next attack.

In summary

Understanding the different
battle personalities can help you understand both yourself and others when you
get into a fight. You can hence take the best approach that will minimize
exposure of your weaknesses, and play most to you strengths in the face of the
style of your opponent.